In this study, we conducted focus group interviews with occupational therapists engaged in child and adolescent psychiatric care and clarified the role of occupational therapists in child and adolescent psychiatric care through theme analysis. Results indicate that an occupational therapist's specialty is making use of occupation (play) in their relationship with children, considering their role in improving children's self-affirmation and self-efficacy, and cultivating children's zest for living. On the other hand, the fee structure for this type of therapy has not been specified which leads to a lack of revenue. In order to remedy this situation, it is necessary to build a network of occupational therapists to improve their skills and accumulate research on the effects of child and adolescent psychiatric occupational therapy.

The purpose of this study was to test the reliability and validity of the Therapist Collaborative Practice Scale (TCPS). The subjects were therapists in a recovery rehabilitation ward. For reliability testing (n=53), TCPS was performed twice at 2-week intervals, ICC=0.97 (95% CI; 0.95-0.98, p<0.01), and the Bland-Altman plot converged within limits of agreement. Validation (n=210) showed moderate correlations (r>0.60) with two existing scales assessing interprofessional collaboration. These results suggest that the TCPS has good reliability and validity as a scale to assess therapists' interprofessional collaborative practice.

We conducted a scoping review of clinical reasoning learning in occupational therapy to organize current research and identify knowledge gaps. As a result, 30 articles were selected: eight experimental/intervention studies and twenty-two descriptive/observational studies. The learning strategies were fieldwork, case-based learning, and service learning. The learning outcomes were both qualitative and quantitative. We identified a knowledge gap in clinical reasoning that requires empirical research in three areas: capturing multifaceted learning outcomes, examining case-based learning, and international comparative studies that focus on instructors and environmental factors.

The purpose of this study was to identify the required competency items for occupational therapy students to support a client's life in the community. The three-round Delphi survey was conducted. The results of the final round revealed 51 competency items based on an expert panel of 87 community-based clinical occupational therapists. 19 competency items were required at the 75%-and-higher level such as the items related to self-health management, risk management for the client, and constructing the belief-relationship between the client and their supporters including the family members. The 22 competency items were required at the 51%-and-higher and 75%-and-lower levels such as the items related to collaborations with the community-based occupational therapist and the client's family members or the other formal professionals in a community, the process in the occupational therapy approach, and the environments in the residential home or community. The remaining 10 required competency items were items related to collaborations with the community-based occupational therapist and informal care providers including the client’s neighbors and collecting information about social resources in the community. The results suggest that the identified competency items in the current study are required in community-based clinical occupational therapy, and thus should be part of occupational therapy education.

The purpose of this study was to clarify the expected roles of work support service providers at medical institutions. A questionnaire was conducted of 385 service providers in special subsidiaries and employment support organizations in Tokyo (136 usable responses with the return rate of 35.3%). The questionnaire items included "role expectations of collaboration with work support agencies" and "community cooperation." Results showed that many of the respondents perceived the following roles: "providing continuous medical care and establishing consultative support systems by opening a consultation window with a particular consultant," "providing information on post-discharge support," and "providing further counseling services regarding disability awareness.” Many of the respondents expected hospitals to have more work support cooperation during the post-discharge period. The results of the study suggest an urgent need to establish a system of transition from hospital to work.

The purpose of this study was to confirm the efficacy of a post-graduate training program for occupational therapists on shoulder function improvement using instructional design. A total of 45 occupational therapists participated in the study which included a questionnaire and online training. The subjects answered the questionnaire before and after training, and the Numeric Rating Scale data of reaction, learning, and behavior were compared. As a result, behavioral change of knowledge and technique related to the motion of the scapulothoracic joint was higher than before training, and behavioral change of how to research and understand literature using problem-based learning was higher than before training. The results indicate a positive correlation between both behavioral change of knowledge and technique related motion of scapulothoracic joint and confidence of occupational therapy and between behavioral change of how to research and understand literature and confidence of occupational therapy. The study reveals the efficacy of instructional design and problem-based learning.

It is important for occupational therapy training institutions to motivate students to learn and guide them towards independent learning. In this study, we analyzed the timing and content of changes in the process by which students aiming to become occupational therapists change their motivation to learn independently, using a double-tracked path and other optimal approaches. As a result, the period of change in motivation for learning was divided into eight categories, and in order to improve such motivation from an early stage, learning support using relationship-oriented and self-esteem-oriented and early experience-based learning should be promoted to be practical and fulfilling. The importance of learning is suggested.

It is known that the incidence of proximal femoral fractures increases within a month of distal radius fractures. One factor that affects balance is the application of a cast or splint to the upper limbs. Recently, early mobilization exercises have been performed after surgical treatment of distal radius fractures. We examined time-course changes in balance function of early mobilization exercise cases after surgical treatment of distal radius fractures. Although the dynamic balance function was not below the cut-off value that leads to a fall, it was significantly reduced 1 week after surgery. Our results suggest that dynamic imbalance is a trigger that induces falls, and in combination with other factors may increase the risk of falls in the early postoperative period of distal radius fractures.

This practical report of a consultation focused on occupation in after-school childcare using COPM and School AMPS. These outcome measures enabled after-school childcare workers to focus on the occupations expected of them in their cases and to make recommendations aimed at improving the occupational performance. The COPM and the School AMPS were used to provide recommendations aimed at improving the occupational performance of the case. As a result, the collaboration between the after-school childcare workers and the occupational therapist was strengthened, and the sharing of responses between these two groups led to an improvement in the execution of tasks in the case. Thus, consultations based on COPM and School AMPS may be effective in classroom environments.

Upper extremity function in stroke patients often positively correlates with frequency of paralyzed hand use. However, some studies indicate the possibility of a discrepancy between higher hand function and lower paretic arm use in daily living. Few studies have examined the effects of higher functional disability, and not many have reported that cognitive dysfunction leads to lower paretic arm use, although most research has focused on psycho-behavioral issues in patients. In the present study, we experienced a patient who had improved motor function after stroke, but still lacked lower paretic arm use in daily life. Neuropsychological examination revealed motor neglect and abulia. We hypothesized that these factors may have influenced his behavior using the paretic arm.

We report a case of a professional pianist with focal dystonia. The patient was a right-handed woman in her 40s who mainly performed concerts. While performing, she gradually flexed her right middle and ring fingers, leading to compensatory hyperextension of the index and little fingers, making it difficult for her to continue playing. To prevent hyperextension of the compensatory fingers, a splint was made to fix the dystonic fingers, and the patient gradually resumed practicing while wearing the splint. We believe that the splint therapy effectively suppressed excessive contraction of the compensatory finger and provided appropriate sensory input to the afferent pathways.

MOMO is an arm support for upper extremity function in patients with intractable neurological diseases and high-level spinal cord injuries. In this study, we performed an intervention using MOMO for a patient who presented with depression and apathy after stroke, refused rehabilitation, and had decreased motivation for activities. As a result, we succeeded in promoting the improvement of self-efficacy in patients who had a pessimistic view of their own physical condition, leading to improvements in ARS and MAL scores. These results suggest that using MOMO to help participants participate in meaningful tasks, may improve self-efficacy, and the subjects may become more motivated about life in general.

An occupational therapist provided home-visit rehabilitation to a patient in his 70s with Alzheimer's disease and terminal-stage lung cancer. The patient was discharged home after being hospitalized and treated for aspiration pneumonia. Using a transdisciplinary approach, we provided various dietary supports, including nutrition, postural positioning, dietary assistance, and oral care. Consequently, his nutritional status improved, and he could stay at home for 47 days without pressure ulcers, which reduced his wife's anxiety. This experience suggests that acquiring a wide range of knowledge and skills regarding food support through cooperation among various professions is necessary. Furthermore, a community system should be created to provide patients with appropriate food support.

A workshop was designed for community-based cancer survivors, which included dialogues with peers and occupational therapists, reflections in an occupational diary, occupation-focused goal setting, and sharing of goal progress. This report aimed to explore the impact of this workshop on the quality of life of the participating cancer survivors. Three women who had completed or were still in treatment participated in the workshops, which were held six times a week. Results showed that all participants at least partially achieved their goals and improved their quality of life. This may be because the participants' awareness of occupations was enhanced through reflection via the occupational diaries and goal-setting, and because both peers and occupational therapists were involved in a supportive relationship.

The establishment of methods for assessing personal factors, including life histories, is an urgent issue in the practice of patient/person-centered occupational therapy. The purpose of this study was to classify the life histories in case series on Management Tool for Daily Life Performance (MTDLP) using text mining. We extracted textual data of life histories for 100 MTDLP cases and created co-occurrence networks using text mining. Additionally, we classified categories of life history text data into ICF codes. The most frequent words in the text data for life history were 'husband' 85 times, 'work' 76 times, and 'housework' 61 times, in that order. We analyzed the categories of the co-occurrence network, which were categorized into three life event items ('high school graduation', 'marriage and childbearing', and 'retirement') and seven activity and participation items ('d475: Driving', 'd5: Self-care', 'd6: Domestic life', 'd760: Family relationships', 'd850: Remunerative employment', 'd910: Community life' and 'd920: Recreation and leisure'). We found that occupational therapists describe life histories focusing on social participation at each life stage.